Toy vehicle actuated lane switching device



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TOY VEHICLE ACTUATED LANE SNITCHING DEVICE Filed April 24, 1964 2Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR.

United States Patent Oilce 3,299,498 Patented Bec. 6, 1966 3,290,498'IDY VEHICLE ACTUA'IED LANE SWITCHING DEVICE Robert G. Lahr, West LosAngeles, Calif., assignor to The A. C. Gilbert Company, New Haven,Conn., a corporation of Maryland Filed Apr. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 362,258

9 Claims. (Cl. 246-415) This invention relates to means for alfordingrandom uncertainty and increased enthusism for contesting players in theperformance of model wheeled vehicles in race game toys operated by theplayers through remote control of propulsion current derived by thevehicles from the roadbed on which the vehicles can travel in a choiceof lanes. The present improvements particularly concern a type ofroadbed that contains main and branch lanes dened by grooves that aretracked by model vehicles such as miniature racing cars, as is disclosedin a copending application, Ser. No. 127,302, liled l'uly 27, 1961, nowU.S. Patent No. 3,206,122 issued Sept. 14, 1965, of common ownershipwith the instant application.

An object of the invention is to determine without direct manipulationof a shiftable lane switch whether a miniature wheeled vehicle shall orshall not be directed into a branch lane from a main lane in which it istraveling as it approaches the branch lane switch.

Another object is to make the shifting or nonshifting of the lane switcha function of the wheel speed of the vehicle in passing a predeterminedpoint on the roadbed during approach of the vehicle to the lane switch.

Another object is to cause the tongue of a lane switch to be shifted inopposite directions depending on whether or not the propulsion motor ofthe vehicle is subjected to reduction in current as it passes saidpredetermined spot.

A further object is to cause the tongue of the lane switch to berestored automatically to a position from which it was shifted as aresult of travel of the car past the lane switch.

These and other objects of the invention will appear in greaterparticular from the following description of a preferred embodiment ofthe invention having reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a plan view of a grooved roadbed equipped with branch laneswitching means embodying the present improvements.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1 showing the top wallof a hollow toy roadbed cut away to expose underlying parts.

FIG. 3 is a view on a further enlarged scale contracted in length andtaken in section on the planes 3 3 in FIG. 2, looking in the directionof the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a view in section on the 4plane 4-4 in FIG. 3 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

FIG. 5 is a view in section on the plane 5-5 in FIG. 2 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the car wheel actuated slidable tread,and its linkage to the tongue of the lane switch, detached from theroadbed.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary plan views of a lane junction on theroadbed showing a model vehicle approaching the lane switch when itstongue is swung to respectively different positions.

FIG. 9 is a view showing the roadbed and vehicle of FIG. 7 in sideelevation.

In FIGS. 7 and 8 a stretch of plural lane hollow model roadbed 12 ofinsulative material is shown containing a straight groove 13 extendingcentrally of what will be termed the main lane of vehicle travel andcontaining a divergent groove 14 extending centrally of what will betermed a branch lane of vehicle travel. Grooves 13 and 14 merge at aswitch tongue 15 pivoted in the roadbed at CJI 16 and. having an angledtail piece 17 extending away from pivot 16 at the opposite side thereof.

Roadbed 12 further has two apertures 22 flanking opposite sides of themain lane and spaced laterally apart suiiiciently to permit electricalconductors 23 and 24 lodged in the roadbed to extend between theapertures at respectively opposite sides of the groove 13. Propulsioncurrent is picked up from roadbed conductors 23, 24 by vehicle carriedcollectors 39, 30 respectively in the usual way.

The said two apertures 22 are occupied respectively by upwardly exposedtraction treads 31 whose ribbed top surfaces are substantially ush withthe top surface of the roadbed. The apertures are spaced laterally aparta distance to register respectively with two powered traction wheels 27,28 of a model vehicle or racing car whose chassis is represented at 25in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9. The traction wheels are driven by any conventionaltransmission gearing (not shown) operably connecting the wheels to thevehicle carried electric propulsion motor 26 which is preferably of atype to be abruptly responsive to drop or increase of voltage fed to theroadbed conductors 23, 24- so that corresponding drop or increaseinstantly takes place in the rotary speed of the traction wheels 27, 28.The front wheel truck 34 of the vehicle is pivotally connected to thechassis of the vehicle at 35 and carries xedly depending therefrom thepilot leg 36 which tracks continually in the grooves-of the roadbed, asfor instance to determine the course of the car as between a main laneand a branch lane.

Traction treads 31 are unitary with a push-pull slide link 40 mostclearly shown in FIG. 6 where it is seen that the remainder of the linkcomprises a thin tapering horizontal blade 41 extending from treads 31at a lower level beneath and parallel with the top wall of the hollowroadbed. Blade 41 has its remote end 42 pivotally coupled at 43 to thefree end of an actuating crank arm 44 which is fast on the bottom end ofa short vertical shaft 45 that xedly carries the switch tongue 15 at itsopposite top end above the roadbed. Shaft 45 extends through and isjournaled in a bearing hole in the top wall of the roadbed.

The treads 31 have antifrictional support respectively on two rollers 46which are free to turn on trunnion spindles 47 whose ends are lodgedremovably but rmly in grooves 48 sunk in lugs that underhang the topwall of the roadbed. A resilient leaf detent 5@ is anchored on a sidewall of the hollow roadbed in position to engage yieldingly in one orthe other of detent notches 51, 52 in the edge of blade 41 of the slidelink.

FIG. 1 shows the branch lane groove 14 flanked by conductors 23', 24carrying propulsion current and merging at its remote end with anadditional lane of vehicular travel dened by roadbed groove 13a anked byconductors 23a and 24a in the same manner as the main lane hereinbeforedescribed. Double main lanes running sideby-side are a common feature oftoyv race games and the branch groove 14 may serve as a cross-over fromone to the other of such main lanes.

For understanding the operation it should first be considered that thetraction wheels 27, 23 of a vehicle being impelled thereby normally kickbackward on the road surface when they impel the vehicle forward. Thuswhen the vehicle wheels 27, 28 roll onto the treads 31 in the approachof the vehicle to the right toward switch tongue 15 a force is exertedon the treads tending to slide them to the left to the position shown inFIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 8. If at this time the switch tongue 15 is positionedas in these figures of the drawings, no shifting of the tongue will takeplace and the vehicle will continue along the grooves 13 and remain inthe main lane as it passes the switch tongue. In so doing it willencounter and swing the tail piece 17 of the switch tonguecounterclockwise out of its way to the position shown in FIG. 7. Anyvehicle that next follows will restore the switch tongue to its originalposition if its traction wheels traverse the treads 31 with eitherundiminished or accelerating speed. However, if the traction wheels of avehicle traveling toward the switch tongue just before coming to bear onthe treads 31, or while passing thereover, have their rotary speedsuddenly checked by abrupt reduction of the current supplied topropulsion motor 26 through roadbed conductors 23, 24, then theaforementioned kickback effect of the traction wheels on the treads willbe lost and will be replaced by the overrunning momentum of the car. Inconsequence the traction wheels instead of impelling the car willmomentarily be carried forward in the direction of car travel fasterthan accords with their decelerated rotary speed whereby force isapplied to the treads that will maintain them in their position shown inFIG. 7. Through coupling blade 41 this swings the switch tonguecounterclockwise to its corresponding position in FIG. 7 and thusdiverts the vehicle into the branch lane along groove 14.

The remote controlled current fed to conductors 23, 24 can be abruptlyreduced, or momentarily cut out entirely, by means of any f the variablerheostats customarily placed in lane circuits as speed control devicesin model race games and vehicular trafiic systems, or in track railsystems in toy electric railroads. Such are well understoood and fullydisclosed in the aforesaid U.S. Patent No. 3, 206,122 and need nottherefore be illustrated herein.

In practicing the present improvements the tail 17 of the switch tonguemay be omitted. It will be clear that if a vehicle should pass theswitch tongue while traveling to the left in the branch lane it willwipe past and shift the tongue from its position in FIG. 1 to itsposition in FIG. 7. The roadbed conductors 23, 24, 23', 24', 23a and 24amay be interconnected conductively preferably in the hollow of theroadbed in any circuiting arrangement that suits the competing playersand the roadbed may be made of break-down sections of the constructionshown in the aforesaid patent. It will be clear from said patent that atleast one of the roadbed groove paralleling conductors referred to inthe following claims' may be located in the groove itself.

The appended claims are directed to and intended to cover all obviousequivalents and modifications of the herein disclosed parts andarrangements as come within a broad interpretation of their terms.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy vehicle actuated branch lane switching device comprising amodel roadbed, a main lane determining groove in said roadbed adapted tobe tracked by a model self impelled vehicle, a branch lane determininggroove in said roadbed adapted to be tracked by said vehicle mergingwith said main lane groove to afford a choice of said lanes to betraveled by said vehicle, conductors on said roadbed paralleling saidgrooves for supplying remote controlled current to said vehicle, aswitch tongue at the junction of said grooves swingable sidewise todirect an arriving vehicle into one or the other 'of said grooves, amovable traction tread located to be traversed by the traction wheel ofa vehicle traveling in said main lane mounted on said roadbed in amanner to be shiftable toward and away from said switch tongue and sooperably connected to the latter that reduction of propulsion current insaid conductors when said traction wheel is on said tread causes tongueactuating movement of said tread before said vehicle reaches saidjunction.

2. A toy vehicle actuated branch lane switching device as defined inclaim 1, in which the said roadbed contains apertures on respectivelyopposite sides of the said main lane determining groove, and the saidtread comprises separate wheel supporting seats occupying said aperturesrespectively laterally spaced to register with and underlie tractionwheels of a vehicle tracking said grooves.

3. A toy vehicle actuated branch lane switching device as defined inclaim 2, in which the said switch tongue is operably connected to bothof the said wheel supporting seats.

4. A toy vehicle actuated branch lane switching device as defined inclaim 3, in which the said switch tongue has a crank arm, together witha push-pull extension of the said wheel supporting seats pivotallycoupled to said crank arm.

5. A toy vehicle actuated branch lane switching device as defined inclaim 4, in which the said push-pull extension is located below the topsurface of the said roadbed.

6. A toy vehicle actuated branch lane switching device as defined inclaim 4, together with antifriction means carried by said roadbed inposition to underlie and support the said wheel supporting seats.

7. A toy vehicle actuated branch lane switching device as defined inclaim 6, in which the said antifriction means comprises rollersrotatably mounted in the said roadbed.

8. A toy vehicle actuated branch lane switching device as defined inclaim 1, in which the said switch tongue is pivotally supported on thesaid roadbed, together with a tail piece unified to shift with saidswitch tongue into and out of overlapping relation to the said main lanedetermining groove.

9. A toy actuated branch lane switching device as defined in claim 1,together with a model wheeled vehicle having current collectors ridingin conductive contact respectively with the said roadbed conductors anda pilot leg riding in tracking engagement with the said grooves.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 861,960 7/1907Field 246-364 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

S. B, GREEN, Assistant Examiner.

1.A TOY VEHICLE ACTUATED BRANCH LANE SWITCHING DEVICE COMPRISING A MODELROADBED, A MAIN LANE DETERMINING GROOVE IN SAID ROADBED ADAPTED TO BETRACKED BY A MODEL SELF IMPELLED VEHICLE, A BRANCH LANE DETERMININGGROOVE IN SAID ROADBED ADAPTED TO BE TRACTED BY SAID VEHICLE MERGINGWITH SAID MAIN LANE GROOVE TO AFFORD A CHOICE OF SAID LANES TO BETRAVELED BY SAID VEHICLE, CONDUCTORS ON SAID ROADBED PARALLELING SAIDGROOVES FOR SUPPLYING REMOTE CONTROLLED CURRENT TO SAID VEHICLE, ASWITCH TONGUE AT THE JUNCTON OF SAID GROOVES SWINGABLE SIDEWISE TODIRECT AN ARRIVING VEHICLE INTO ONE OR THE OTHER OF SAID GROOVES, AMOVABLE TRACTION TREAD LOCATED TO BE TRAVERSED BY THE TRACTION WHEEL OFA VEHICLE TRAVELING IN SAID MAIN LANE MOUNTED ONE SAID ROADBED IN AMANNER TO BE SHIFTABLE TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID SWITCH TONGUE AND SOOPERABLY CONNECTED TO THE LATTER THAT REDUCTION OF PROPULSION CURRENT INSAID CONDUCTORS WHEN SAID MOVEMENT WHEEL IS ON SAID CAUSES TONGUEACTUATING MOVEMENT OF SAID TREAD BEFORE SAID VEHICLE REACHES SAIDJUNCTION.